This book has been published several times, for instance:

1964
Wunternaum Press
Tokyo, Japan

1970
Bärmeier & Nikel
Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Peter Owen
London, UK

Simon and Schuster
New York, USA

Pomelo
Ediciones de la Flor
Buenos Aires, Argentina

1971
Sphere Books
London, UK

Simon and Schuster
New York, USA

TouchStone Book
USA

2000
Simon and Schuster
New York, USA

Bakhåll
Sweden

2004
Pamplemousse
Textuel
France

2005
Grapefruit. Istruzioni per l'arte e per la vita
Mondadori
Italy

2006
Pomelo
Centro de Creacion Experimental
Spain

The most famous publication by Yoko Ono: it's a book of her instruction pieces. Originally published in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan as a very limited edition of 500 copies. From 1970 onwards it has been published in several countries and languages. For instance in 1970 it was published in Britain by Peter Owen (hardback) and also in USA by Simon & Schuster (hardback): these books contain approximately 10 new pieces plus letters she'd written to gallery owners and a text of a lecture. In 1971 Grapefruit was published in Britain by Sphere (paperback) and in USA by TouchStone Book (paperback). These later editions contain an introduction by John Lennon and material from the original Japanese 1964 printing as well as later works of art.

One of the recent interesting international editions of Grapefruit is the bilingual edition of it by the Swedish publisher and record company Bakhåll. This edition includes a bonus CD with an exclusive interview given by Yoko Ono on December 15th 2000. The Swedish Grapefruit is basically the same Grapefruit that was published by Simon & Schuster in 2000 with Yoko Ono's playful intro "Once upon a thyme, Kind told Keen that she must tell a gory, every naught, to ease his heavy blind...", but with a different cover. The 11 minute exclusive interview CD which comes with the book: Yoko Ono explains what conceptual art is, and why skies are important to her as an artist, etc. All in all, this Swedish publication is a must for all serious YO collectors, just like the other editions of Grapefruit. You can order it directly from the publisher

Yoko Ono: "Burn this book after you have read it." John Lennon: "This is the greatest book I have ever burned." Review from Q, (August 1996): "Early performance pieces collected into book form. Violent and whimsical, pandemonium of imaginative brilliance to shame all performance artists." Have some grapefruit!

(Click the book title on top of the page to see some of the Grapefruit covers)

grapefruit selection
By Yoko Ono
(Published in The Book Review (Japan) No.1)
April 1970

grapefruit book
By Yoko Ono and Tadasu Tagawa
Shinsho-Kan Japan, 1982

grapefruit juice (gureipu furutsu jyusu)
By Yoko Ono
Kodansha, 1998

A paperback book with 118 pages. Even though the description at sasugabooks.com states that the book is in Japanese, it is also in English. It contains Yoko Ono's Grapefruit instruction pieces from the early 60s, and also many black/white artistic photographs by Japanese photographers. A quite charming little Japanese publication!

Yoko Ono's "A Grapefruit In The World Of Park"